


Let's Take Our Time

by PoppycockIsMyProvince



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27033505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoppycockIsMyProvince/pseuds/PoppycockIsMyProvince
Summary: Solemn and strange as her husband is, it takes time for her to warm to him but as the long summer days unravel into weeks and months, warm to him she does.
Relationships: Lysa Tully Arryn/Rhaegar Targaryen
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Let's Take Our Time

The King is mad.

But even in Riverrun, far removed as it is from the spies and intrigues of King’s Landing, none dare discuss this.

Despite this, the knowledge that the king is mad is entrenched in Lysa’s memory, forming a piece in the tapestry of innate knowledge which had never been taught or imparted, like the brightness of Cat’s smiles, the reflexive motions behind embroidery and the faint smell of roses that had clung to her mother.

The King’s madness goes undiscussed because it beats and thrums in the conscious of the Seven Kingdoms, a piece of blackened thread that dangles through a collective tapestry of silence and deliberate obtuseness. It announces itself daily in shrieks, smacks and fits that negate any need for treasonous gossip.

So, when father summoned her to his solar and told her hesitantly, and then plainly, that the King is mad she finds herself both surprised because _why is he telling her this_ and unsurprised because, _yes of course he is._ But also, _why are you telling me this?_

Her father sits twisting his signet ring round and round his finger, stopping. Resuming. And stopping again.

He clears his throat and looks at her, then falters and clears his throat again.

“Doubtlessly” he begins at last, “You are aware that the King has been in a frail state of mind for some time now.”

He stops to clear his throat again, fidgeting once more with his ring and straining in his seat before meeting her gaze with a firmness that had been missing before.

“In truth, it is clear that he has gone quite mad and indeed, that he has been for some time now.”

Lysa’s unsure as to why she has been summoned to her father’s solar and why he is telling her forbidden facts, but she nods quietly wishing he would stop the intermittent twisting of his ring and waiting for him to continue.

“They say that when a Targaryen is born the God’s flip a coin to see whether it will land on madness or greatness”, he continues, “indeed, it has been sometime since they have shown anything but madness. The coupling of brother onto sister, the issuing of son and nephew at once is a madness which mocks the legislature of our kingdom and the words of our Gods alike. It is a breeding which can breed naught but further madness.”

He stops to draw breath again, but Lysa is no longer listening. Laying on the table besides father is an envelope split luridly open, like too large teeth hanging over an absent tongue. Its letter is missing, the broken wax seal printed with the symbol of a hand that glints up at her in the candlelight.

Dimly, she is aware that father continues to speak, stammering as he explains that fresh blood is needed to provide an heir of diluted Targaryen descent and break the wheel of kingly madness that plagues the kingdom in generational spurts and bouts. It’s an honour he presses, for her and for house Tully, that she has been chosen.

Lysa is unable to look away from the reflection of flames in the broken wax and barely registers father’s proclamation that one day her children will guide the Seven Kingdoms into a future of sustainable safety.

**Author's Note:**

> A first attempt at both dialogue and multi-chapter writing. I'm not sure where this is going or how updates will work, but if you love Lysa and Westerosi women being happy and healthy, stay tuned.


End file.
